The Most Important Thneed
by Charivari
Summary: Lorax fanfic. When the Once-ler starts spruiking his Thneed, he is met by tomatoes from everyone except a waitress at a local diner who lends her support. The story of their relationship during the rise and fall of his Thneed business. Once-ler/OC Written in attempted poetry style. Reviews appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys. I watched The Lorax yesterday and loved it. Ed Helms was great as Once-ler and this idea planted itself in my head. I was originally going to write it as a normal fanfic. But then I went and read Seuss's Lorax for research and I couldn't help wanting to test myself by writing in a similar style. I must say I respect him even more after attempting it. Making everything rhyme is quite hard. Thank God for rhyming dictionaries XD**

**I hope you enjoy and please leave a review to let me know what you think. I'd like to know if people would like me to continue it.**

There once was a girl,

Who would put on her skates,

To glide to Morelli's on 3rd,

For her shift starting at eight,

Her day started off normal,

She served coffee and pie,

Until a commotion outside,

Brought her to the window to spy,

A lanky young man,

With a pink thing called Thneed,

He was telling the town,

It was the something they'd need,

But all of the people,

Looked less than impressed,

They threw tomatoes at him,

And made quite a mess,

Juice ran into his eyes,

He yelled in an uproar,

And crashed in his blindness,

Into Morelli's front door,

As he lay on the ground,

The girl raced outside,

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Do I _look_ okay?" he angrily sighed.

His vision remained blurry,

And he started to panic,

What if he was permanently blind?

His panic turned manic,

The girl went and fetched,

A wet cloth for his eyes,

It cleared them right up,

Much to the fellow's surprise,

He had come to believe himself,

Well and truly maimed,

Since he had made such a fuss,

He felt rather ashamed.

So he went to leave,

But the girl interceded,

"Come inside for a drink,"

"I insist," she pleaded.

"With the knock you've just taken,

There's really no rush,

For you just to take off,

When you could be concussed."

"Can I have hot chocolate?"

He added, "With marshmallows too?"

"No problem," the girl smiled,

"I can arrange that for you."

She led him inside,

Without further delay,

Sat him down at a booth,

And glided away,

She returned with his drink,

Extra mallows and cream,

He grinned very wide,

His blue eyes agleam,

"What's your name?" she asked,

As he was digging in,

He paused to look up,

With cream on his chin,

"Once-ler," he said,

Expecting a guffaw,

He knew his name sounded funny,

But the girl didn't laugh,

She smiled instead,

Guileless and sweet,

Once-ler suddenly noticed

His heart quicken in beat,

He tried to act cool,

As she offered her name,

"Ophelia," she said,

Then pointed with aim,

To his neck, at the Thneed,

"So this is your invention?"

The Once-ler, he brightened,

Snapping to full attention,

"Yes this is Thneed!"

He handed it to her to feel,

"It's the greatest invention,

Since man discovered the wheel!"

"Modest aren't you," she laughed,

"Though I suppose it really is soft,"

"There's more to it than that..."

The Once-ler took it and held it aloft,

He folded it this way and that,

Showing what it could do,

The girl seemed impressed,

He took that as his cue,

"Are you interested?" he asked,

"I'll give you a discounted price,

It's the least I can do,

You've been very nice."

The girl started to blush,

But she shook her head,

"I'm sorry, I can't,

I'm saving for university instead,"

The Once-ler deflated in his chair,

With a sigh,

"What a rotten first day,

I can't get anyone to buy."

"I'm sorry," the girl said.

"People here are set in their ways,

They aren't really interested,

In any new craze."

"Thneed isn't a 'craze'."

The Once-ler protested,

"It's a necessity," he proclaimed,

Refusing to be bested,

He rose to his feet,

Determination in his eye,

"Just you wait," he said,

"I'll convince them all to buy,"

"By the end of tomorrow,

They're all going to plead,

To be given just one,

Of my wonderful Thneed!"

"Well I wish you good luck,"

The girl said with a grin,

"Oh and by the way...

You have cream on your chin."

He wiped his chin sheepishly,

And hastened away,

Back to his camp in the forest,

To plan his next day,

As for Ophelia,

At 5, she skated back to her house,

Spent her night in contemplation,

Quiet as a mouse,

She thought and thought,

Then thought some more,

Of the Once-ler and his Thneed,

And what tomorrow had in store...

**To be continued...**

**What do you think guys? Please R&R if you like :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys,**

**I hope you like the next chapter. Thank you so much to bellechat for her lovely review :) I have to note Ophelia's age (since it's not really clear in the text) is eighteen. She's finished school which is why she is saving for university.**

**Enjoy :) **

True to his word,

Once-Ler returned the next day,

The people simply threw

More tomatoes his way,

So he tried the next day,

The next day and next,

All he got was tomatoes,

He was utterly vexed,

He slunk into Morelli's,

Dirty and fuming,

Ophelia fetched him his usual,

An idea blooming,

"I think I could help,

I could ask my dad,

He's the newspaper editor,

To run you an ad."

"I suppose," said the Once-ler,

"It's at least worth a try,

Maybe, just maybe,

It'll get them to buy."

Ophelia went to her father,

He was not that impressed,

But for his dear daughter,

He would do his best,

But his best didn't work,

People didn't want Thneed,

They still weren't convinced,

It was something they'd need,

The Once-ler gave up,

Threw his Thneed with a yell,

Not caring at all,

The place where it fell,

"I'm a failure," he told Ophelia,

"My mother was right!"

Ophelia bit back a remark,

His Mom must be a fright,

She sought to rally him,

"You should keep on trying,

You never know, tomorrow

They might just start buying."

The Once-ler shook his head,

He would not be persuaded,

His ambition for Thneed,

Right now it had faded,

He didn't want anything,

Except for distraction,

To spend time with the girl,

He'd developed an attraction,

He reached for her hand,

His heart started to thrum,

"I'd like you to see my house,

Please say that you'll come,"

Ophelia blushed,

For she felt great affection,

For the young man before her,

She said yes, no objection

They went to his home,

Where Truffula trees grew,

Where Humming-fish swam,

And Swomee-swans flew,

And the Bar-ba-loots,

Snacked on the Truffula fruit,

The smallest one came over,

Others following suit,

The fish left their pond,

Each swan, their nest,

All curious to meet,

The Once-ler's guest,

"How do you do?"

The girl waved and smiled,

They were all so cute,

She was beguiled,

A fellow came forward,

To kiss her hand,

His name was the Lorax,

Guardian of the land,

He was short, tangerine,

A peculiar-looking guy,

With a walrus-like moustache,

And not at all shy,

"Pleasure to meet you,"

He said with smile,

"Beanpole talks about you,

Has done for a while."

"Don't listen to him,"

The Once-ler said quickly,

Throwing the Lorax a look,

A little bit prickly,

The Lorax just smiled,

"No need to be gruff,

Why not tell her you like..."

"Alright, that's enough!"

Once-ler turned to Ophelia,

Trying not to look tense,

"I told you, don't listen,

He's not talking sense.

What do you wanna do?"

He asked as he led her away,

Ophelia thought and decided,

"I'd like to hear you play,

But not your Thneed jingle,"

She'd heard that enough,

"Play something different,

Sing about other stuff"

The Oncer-ler took his guitar,

Started strumming a tune,

Hoping she'd like it,

Hoping she'd swoon,

The animals liked it,

They all started to dance,

Ophelia watched them,

Completely entranced,

The beat was infectious,

She started to move,

Waving at the Lorax,

To get him to groove,

He began half-hearted,

Then got into the swing,

But he wasn't used to exertion,

That was the thing,

He ran out of breath,

He started wheeze,

"That's enough dancin'

Let's take a break, please,

Whew," he said,

"I wish I was younger,

Rustle up some pancakes Beanpole,

I've built up a hunger."

The Once-ler protested,

"I'm not your slave!"

"Oh please make pancakes!"

Ophelia's plea made him cave,

She followed him inside,

Helped him whip a feast,

Of enough pancakes,

To satisfy every beast

They all staggered outside,

Lay down on grass,

Stared up at the sky,

Watching clouds pass,

Food made them sleepy,

They started to doze,

By the time they woke up,

The moon had arose,

Because it was dark,

Because it was night,

Once-ler asked Ophelia to stay,

Til morning light,

She could have his bed,

Ophelia didn't say no,

For deep down,

She did not want to go,

She telephoned her parents,

To tell them the plan,

They were a little concerned,

With her staying with a man,

"Oncie is nice Mom and Dad,"

She said with a sigh,

"I'll be fine, talk tomorrow,

Goodnight, love you, bye."

They lingered outside,

Enjoying the breeze,

Perfumed with the scent,

Of the Truffula trees,

Ophelia looked up at sky,

Filled with many a star,

Listening to Once-ler

Softly pluck his guitar,

One thing troubled her,

She wished she could tell,

If the feelings she felt,

He felt as well,

Based on his silence,

She guessed he did not,

Not knowing any better,

She felt a little distraught,

She wasn't to know,

He'd been struggling to find,

The courage to tell her,

How he was really inclined,

It wasn't til he turned,

Saw her silhouetted in moonlight,

That he found voice to speak,

The moment, it felt right,

"I like you Ophie."

Ophelia's heart beat wild,

"I like you too."

She turned and she smiled,

"Perhaps more than like,"

Once-ler admitted it was true,

Beaming when she replied,

"Oncie, me too."

They surveyed each other,

Full of elation,

They shyly moved closer,

Without hesitation,

Their lips came to touch,

Their first kiss electric,

They enjoyed it, not knowing,

Life was about to get hectic,

For the very next day,

People flooded over the hill,

"We need Thneed!" they cried,

We'll buy it, we will!"

**To be continued...**

**Hope you guys liked. Reviews are appreciated :) **


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